1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging lens and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to an imaging lens manufactured by eliminating a problem of a dicing process and preventing a lens element from deformation, and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Increasingly smaller pixels of an image sensor for recent use have also led to a smaller size of an optical device installed in an optical apparatus utilizing such an image sensor. The smaller size of the optical device renders it very difficult to assemble the optical apparatus. To overcome this problem, the optical device has been manufactured by a replication method such as hot embossing or ultraviolet (UV) embossing which ensures wafer-scale mass production.
A replica method is a known art for manufacturing a data storage device such as a compact disc (CD) and a digital versatile disc (DVD), or a micro lens. Usually, glass or plastic is utilized as a substrate to have various replication layers formed thereon.
Conventionally, to ensure optical properties of a lens, the lens elements are replicated on one surface of the substrate and then the plurality of substrates are deposited.
However, this conventional configuration where the plurality of substrates are deposited disadvantageously increases height of the lens elements.
To overcome this problem, as shown in FIG. 1, the lens elements are formed by the replica method on both surfaces of the substrate 200. However, when a replication layer 210 is formed on one surface and another replication layer 220 is formed on an opposite surface, the lens elements may be impaired due to the replication process.
Moreover, after the replication process, when the substrate is diced into individual lens units along a line 300, a dicing tape (not shown) needs to be bonded onto the substrate. This requires the lens element on one of the surfaces of the substrate to have negative refractive power or an additional structure for dicing to be installed on the substrate where the replication layers are formed.